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Bee Folk

Hive in distress

Thursday and Friday were considerably warm enough to cause the comb to fail in hive #2, Brigid's first swarm of the season. It didn't help in the least that I left the catchment drawer in place all week, which might've prevented the bees from supplying adequate ventilation which might've mitigated the impact of direct sunlight had I the foresight to leave it open. The original hive, Brigid, is only a few feet away and doesn't appear to have been affected at all, but also doesn't get quite the exposure as this one.

The coverage on the front of the hive is obvious from across the yard, like a thick rustling fur coat, but on closer inspection there is a significant amount of uncured honey oozing out from underneath the hive, and as the weekend progressed the carnage started to become more apparent as dead bees and contents of ruined brood cells were emptied onto the front porch. This is a pretty major set-back for this colony and not something I feel I can do anything to remedy, even if it were conventional woodenware. Hopefully, it's a result of my negligence and not a design flaw that prevents these hives from being placed in direct sunlight. I love the weathered look from a completely aesthetic point of view and figured that the inch and a half thick walls would offer enough R-value to guard against overheating as much as it prevents freezing but it's time to consider giving these hives a coat of white paint, too.

Last week there were a couple of chilly nights that forced the bees of this colony back into their hives allowing me a quick peek into the front entrances. I was unable to see anything confirming that, indeed, there was some comb collapse. The following morning there were a few small hive beetle larvae dumped on the front porch and I began to get worried about this hive. As the weekend progressed there became and apparent tart, "mulchy" scent emanating from the hive and finally I checked on the morning of May 11th to discover hundreds or thousands of SHB maggots all over the front porch, beneath the hives screen floor and everywhere! I make it a point to never go into a hive unless I feel that I can't do any worse than whatever plagues them otherwise.

I cut the stack into sets of two supers. After removing and setting aside the top two the bottom two did indeed reveal a catastrophic comb collapse. I smoked the bottom box heavily to get a look but couldn't see anything under the pile of melted comb in the bottom most super. Next I removed that set from the atrium and remembered then that this was the hive that I was testing the slatted atrium which had prevented the collapsed comb from blocking the entrances entirely. But it had also supported a now horizontally aligned layer of comb that even though the bees had mostly cleaned of brood and stores, it was now providing shelter for small hive beetle. I scraped the melted comb that had adhered to the slats (actually, half inch dowels) until I could see that the screened bottom board was also choked with wax particles and SHB maggots. Because the floors in these hives are removable in case of just such an emergency the screen was quickly and easily cleared and replaced. The whole operation only took about ten minutes. I would've liked to have removed the melted comb in the bottom box, as well, but it was occupied by a significant portion of the cluster and I was afraid of crossing over from "potential harm" to "wanton destruction". That option still remains on the table, as they'd say in the war room. . .

The minimal intervention seems to have been the best medicine. A week after the intrusion this colony appears to be functioning normally again, if perhaps a bit set back from the collapse. Bees come and go, returning with pollen, there's no bearding at the entrances save for a few guard bees and the smell of brood, queen-rightness, and honey making has replaced the rotting-wood-like stink of the SHB infestation. Perhaps there's hope yet! Before I thought I knew, but now I truly understand the importance of proper ventilation within the hive.﻿